Expo 67 Place des Nations amphitheater

This area was blocked off for as long as I can remember, it was originally an amphitheater built for Expo 67 called Place des Nations on the western-most tip of st Helen's island. The architecture used big concrete geometric structures shaped like triangles, pyramids and towering monoliths. Now the area is open to the public to wander around safely, its a very large expanse of gravel lined by baroque structures and seating.  

Place des Nations shapes, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

More concrete step-seats, with a warm caramel colour they worked nicely against the autumn red orange yellow in the background. I used a greenish umber (PBr7) from Shin Han, its the best one out there to paint old Montreal concrete, along with a dab of raw sienna (also PBr7). Some deft brush-work created the grainy textural effects. 

Concrete step seats, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

A prominent airplane trail in the sky was composed neatly against a row of middle-ground trees, with a yellow block and orange pylon in the foreground. It was quite fun to paint this one, in fact, a very  pleasant afternoon all around, with just a cool breeze. 

Plane trail pylon, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026 

Boardwalk river side, Autumn colours

Its a popular spot for tourists, south shore of st Helen's island, with views of the river, Molson brewery and Cartier bridge. Its so popular, that a large tourist group stood right there and blocked the view of the railing when I was set to paint it. Oh well, everyone enjoyed the nice weather today. 

Boardwalk river bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Rental scooters were lined up, they looked like swans with green helmets! It was a tricky painting to do on such a small format, but my new glasses really helped. I look forward to going back to a larger format, the huger pile of 5 x 7" backs is almost done now. I like the tree effects here, almost like an oil painting thanks to bismuth vanadate yellow (PY184) and yellow ochre (PY43). 

Scooters river side, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

The western-most point of st Helen's island has been blocked off for as long as I can remember, it used to be an Expo 67 amphitheater This year finally, they renovated the pool area and opened up to pedestrians, which enabled this painting of the Victoria bridge. The river was turquoise, pale blue, and emerald green, with swirling frothy water. I composed the scene on a portrait format, with a foreground bench to create depth, and welcome the viewer to take a seat along with me and enjoy the view. 

West veiw Vicotora bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026 

Scrap parking lot and twisty groove

These drill presses were attached to an iron stage in a large parking lot on st Patrick. The lot is full of old rusty equipment and scrap, like gears and old factory pieces. One wonders if it is here for the express purpose of being 'donated'. 

Drill presses scrap lot, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

An array of vehicles, old tuns, and foliage filled the lot. In the background old red-brick factories turned into shops, or on the right, its a dog kennel. 

Equipment scrap lot, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Great piles of rusty gears and pieces lined the parking lot. With low sun, a purplish shadow cast across the foreground. Puddles remained from recent rain. 

Gears shadows scrap lot, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Finally, I made it out to Twisty groove, a disused field next to a school that has this air duct wrapped around a log. The field was maintained this year, mowed, and the bench clean and usable. I preferred it overgrown, like last year, there were wild flowers and butterflies. 

Twisty groove climber, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026 

Autumn colours now and then

With a nice blue sky and Autumn colours, why not go out and paint? How about the cold bitter wind and near-freezing conditions. In this scene, I am looking due north at the Lachine canal with a colourful pink graffiti by ZONEK, which I changed to PJD26. 

Autumn colours canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Same spot looking eastwards, I captured the rusty-orange tree line, blue-green pine trees, and some yellowish trees off to the left. The lawn was toasty yellow with dropped leaves strewn about. 

Tree line colours, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Close to the same spot but looking south towards the building that used to house the Armand paper makers. You see beer barrels in the foreground, belonging to the craft brewery here, and an old water tower in the background. Under the tower there is a hopping craft beer pub. 

Barrels water tower, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026 

Finally, a scene from University of Western Ontario campus 20+ years ago, which coincidentally is an Autumn scene. There was a certain attention to detail in those paintings, when it worked, resulting in a photorealistic finish. I remember painting this one, and what a pleasant Autumn it was... many years the season was cut short by wind and rain. Nowadays, the season is longer and generally better for painting, due to climate change I suppose.  

UWO post Autumn, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 2004 

Girouard underpass, curves, vines, bridge span

The Girouard underpass connects down to the Decarie expressway heading south in this view. Up on the curving sidewalk, one gets a good view of the curving ramps and shadows cast down grassy hillsides. Around this area there is a small forest, growing between highways. 

Girouard underpass curves, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

This tree had creeper vines on it, usually I tear them down but today I made a painting. These vines, Virginia creeper, turn red, orange and yellow in Autumn. After highways are cut through the land, the land slowly grows back where it can. 

Girouard underpass vines, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

The new st Jacques bridge span can be seen from here, with all sorts of cars and trucks heading out of the city. There was no graffiti on these walls, but I added my initials there on the bottom right anyways, as if spray-painted.

Girouard underpass bridge span, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026 

Curio Folio: Canned Book

Spoiler alert! This book won't spoil, because its in a can. The main advantage to having a canned book is that its sealed off from environmental factors like acidity, moisture and mold, which gives the book a much longer book-shelf life. You may wonder how to read the canned book? With a can opener of course. Now what to do with your canned book after opening, flattening it out, and reading it... you can put it in the book-Tupperware, another clever item. Book-Tupperware is a plastic container with a closable lid, shaped just like a book. A few other advantages, you can buy a pack of six canned books for a party, and when finished, the cans are fully refundable through a deposit. You may well wonder where I ever saw the canned book, which is now in my Curio Folio of things you never knew existed, and to that I say, read all about it!

Curio Folio: Canned Book, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, October 2026

Autumn Frédéric Back Park, surrealistic realism

Out at Frédéric Back Park its always fun to paint, the scenery is superb and Autumn brings a range of yellow, orange and reds. This location, up in st Michel area, used to be an open pit mine, which was then turned into landfill for Montreal city waste. After filling it in, the city figured out a way to turn the land into sports parks and walking trails. In doing so, they installed spherical structures to deal with methane emissions. 

Sumacs vista, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026 

In this surrealistic viewpoint, I made the spheres float on a smooth golf-green, with some flags in the background. I was last here around the same time last year and made some paintings. 

Golf or something, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

 

Getting closer to the spheres, and a plane went in for a landing at Pierre Trudeau airport. In fact, planes were constantly flying over. Much of the park area is landscaped and maintained, each sphere has a mowed grassy area around it for access. People are free to walk and ride around on wide trails. 

Plane landing sphere, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Like I made it up, but this was more or less the scene! Montreal skyline in the background, people flying kites in the middle, and spheres strewn about the landscape in the foreground. Life imitates art sometimes. 

Kites and spheres, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Finally getting a close-up, here is a sphere with its glass window visible. Some sort of valve is attached to interior piping. All around were a sumptuous blend of earthy Autumn colours and textures, with a purplish-yellow sky.  

Valve in sphere, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026